not since those final words
of Chidiock Tichborne
penned so many moons ago
a traitor or a martyr
take your pick
written prior to his youthful demise
have these eyes of mine
suffered so
a water well busted by a hit
let me tell you this
tears dripped unrestrained
a poem penetrated tissue
of resistant pain
words pierced chamber walls
to make their mark
a poem adrift from all others writ
touched every fibre of a
would be poets heart